Kingdom’s Bloodline

When Thales came back on horseback, the Palace of Heroic Spirits was ready: the first city gate to the front of the palace gate was swept clean, and the armor of the guards and soldiers was also exceptionally neat. For the rough and rough Northlanders, it is probably the limit.

"Maybe next time you come back, you can show up without the bad news."

The preoccupied second prince carefully held the rein of the black horse Jenny, and said to Putilai who hadn't seen him for a long time with a straight face.

"So that's how it is," Puttilai raised his eyebrows, narrowed his eyes, and showed a strange look: "Your Excellency Little Ronnie proposed to the Grand Duchess to strengthen the stability of Dragon Clouds City. This is actually bad news for you, Your Highness... ..."

ah?

The prince was stunned by this sentence for a second, and then he understood what it was.

He took a breath.

Thales slowly turned to Putilei, put on the ugliest expression, and paused every word: "You just have to mention..."

But he was interrupted.

"Ah, I'm sorry," the skinny man smiled meaningfully, and shrugged helplessly on the horse: "I swear I don't mean anything else before you get angry."

Puttilai showed a harmless smile: "You know...the meaning of 'that'."

Thales' eyes widened, and his mouth moved a few times in the air, but in the end he still didn't make a sound.

The prince could only snort in dissatisfaction, and turned around.

Who can understand that kind of depression that is full of resentment and resentment is forcefully forced back into the chest?

"As far as the current situation is concerned," the second prince resisted the urge to dismiss the former deputy envoy, and bit out the words through his teeth, "Anything that breaks the status quo may be harmful to us." Threat: For example, the sudden marriage of the Grand Duchess and the interests involved behind it is what I mean."

"Of course," Pitley is still the lacking expression, and ignore the Lord Justin behind him.

"You are a prince, and what you say must be true whether it is true or not."

God...

Thales covered his face, sighed in pain, and gave up the idea of ​​explaining something to the stubborn old man.

"It's unbelievable," the prince looked listlessly at the slowly approaching palace gate, "this word actually came from a subject who had ignored his prince for more than ten days."

Putilei snorted lightly, but did not answer.

Nicolai had already led the Grand Duke's guards to wait in front of the palace gate, but this time the meteorite man did not put on a dead face after seeing Thales, but stared at him deeply, and then turned towards the stable. Fang Xiang nuzzled his lips, motioning him to continue.

This is not common.

Puzzled, Thales kicked off the saddle in front of the stable.

"Good luck," Puttilai said lightly, "I will wait for you in your room after the welcome is over."

"That's really comforting." The already bored prince waved his hand dissatisfied.

Thales handed the reins to the groom, and then, accompanied by Wyatt and Rolf, walked towards Nicolai at the gate of the palace.

"The Grand Duchess and the Earl are in the Hall of Heroes, go and join them," Nicolai waved his hand with an unchanged expression: "I still have to meet the forerunners of the mission here, they are very formal this time."

"Because the matter is particularly serious?" Thales snorted, "What happened to the last incident? You know, about the Grand Duchess..."

"Shut your mouth obediently," Nikolai interrupted him bluntly: "The forerunner of Qiyuan City is here."

Thales turned his head, and as expected, a group of cavalry with different banners slowly drove out of the first city gate, and walked towards the gate of the palace under the watchful eyes of countless Longxiao City guards on both sides.

Embroidered on their flag is an open and heavy tome, and several imperial letters are engraved on the opened pages, the meaning of which is unknown.

Code of Knights, the orthodox and noble ruler of Qiyuan City, the emblem of the Ronnie family.

It is said that they are a family of knights who have been stationed in the Northland since the ancient empire era.

They have bred countless great knights who have left their names in history. Even when the emperor forcibly demolished the knight temple and the ancient style of knights gradually declined, they still maintained a huge reputation in the Northland.

until the end battle.

Thales recalled the knowledge given by the Northland teachers over the years.

Among the cavalry, the leading knight looked quite special: his face was dark, his eye sockets were flat, his temples were shaved off, leaving only short reddish-brown hair on top of his head, and he had a solid figure, but he was wearing a light leather armor that was not commonly seen in the Northland , all kinds of small tools that Thales couldn't understand were tied on the belt around the shoulders. The weapons all over his body, apart from a dagger at his waist, are actually only a crossbow on his back and a quiver hanging on the saddle.

What caught people's attention the most was his demeanor and demeanor as leisurely as a stroll in a garden, even though he was riding a horse.

The forerunner of the Qiyuan City mission actually has such an attitude?

That means...

When Thales frowned, Nikolai beside him reacted one step earlier than him: I saw the meteorite staring at the leading brown-haired knight with a rare expression of surprise.

"Oh, this is really a surprise." The meteorite's expression gradually became serious.

Thales narrowed his eyes, looked at Nicolai, and then at the leather knight walking leisurely: "Do you know each other?"

Nicolai ignored him, but made a few gestures to his subordinates, and then went forward alone: ​​the prince noticed that several veteran guards of the Grand Duke also showed the same expression.

Thales looked strangely at the brown-haired knight with an unusual face from the Northlanders.

he is……

Nikolai walked slowly to the front of the Qiyuan City cavalry, and watched them all dismount with cold expressions.

The brown-haired knight was of medium stature, even slightly shorter than the slightly skinny Nicolai. He pressed the belt on his waist and looked straight at the meteorite in front of him without flinching, showing a distrustful look. Kind smile.

Thales sighed, and the crimes of Hell River gathered in his ear, listening to the conversation between the two of them.

Nicolai stared at the knight for a long time.

Until he took a deep breath, pursed his mouth, nodded his head lightly, and snorted coldly:

"How could it be you?"

The words are cold and unceremonious.

Taylor's heart tightened: It seems that their relationship is not good?

In the coming storm, the relationship between Qiyuan City and Dragon Clouds City will probably depend on the result of this mission.

And now...

Hearing Nicolai's unkind greeting, the brown-haired knight grinned, revealing an inexplicable mischievousness. Thales then noticed that the knight's lips were extra wide.

someone special.

The prince said silently, rejecting Wyatt's suggestion that he should leave first.

The brown-haired knight tilted his head, opened his mouth wide, and made a gong-like voice, saying to Nicolai:

"Have you ever heard a joke?"

Nicolai frowned.

"There is a man who has been running around doing business all year round, and he is very worried that his wife in his hometown will be unfaithful to him," the brown-haired knight shook his head and laughed:

"So he sneaked home one night. Fortunately, except for his sleeping wife, the man didn't find any trace of the adulterer. So he was relieved, and he became happy with his wife."

Nicolai frowned more and more.

The brown-haired knight snorted, and raised his finger to lightly tap the unchanging Nicolai: "Afterwards, his wife lit the lamp and saw her husband's face clearly, so she couldn't help being surprised and said..."

The knight's eyes widened, and he repeated Nicolai's words with an exaggerated expression:

"How could it be you?"

The audience fell silent.

In the next second, the brown-haired knight burst out laughing, laughing all by himself.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

As if the joke was really funny.

But Nikolai looked unmoved.

The companions behind the knight looked strange and looked away one after another, and someone coughed lightly, as if deeply ashamed of their leader's joke.

Thales, who was listening to all this from afar, couldn't help frowning.

What are you doing?

Only the brown-haired knight looked at Nicolai with a strange smile and shrugged.

Finally, after what seemed like centuries, Nicolaisson dropped his icy expression and let out a long sigh.

"Same as before," Nicolai lowered his head and snorted coldly:

"It is not funny."

The brown-haired knight stopped smiling, his expression changed.

"Oh, God," the knight looked at the meteorite with a disappointed face:

"Your sense of humor is still the same shit."

Thales listened to their conversation strangely, and began to doubt the relationship between the two.

That brown-haired knight is...

Nikolai watched him silently.

"How many years?" The meteorite said softly.

The brown-haired knight's smile slowly disappeared.

"Eighteen years," he stroked his brown hair, and hummed softly, "We haven't seen each other for eighteen years since I went back to Qiyuan City."

The meteorite nodded slowly.

But the brown-haired knight's expression suddenly became alive again.

"I guess you still don't have a wife, do you?"

"And with your status, it's impossible to make a big show, and the noble ladies probably don't like you." The brown-haired knight looked at Nicolai with a look of disgust, showing a deep and smirk: "Don't Tell me, you still solved it with your hands in these eighteen years!"

Now, the companions behind him coughed unnaturally.

Nikolai still stared at the brown-haired knight who spoke indecently.

Until he also curled the corners of his mouth and let out a suppressed laugh.

Nicolai's laughter and the brown-haired knight's laughter gradually overlapped, as if they had laughed at each other countless times.

Thales looked at the meteorite's smile strangely. As far as he knew, apart from sneer and grimace, the dead-faced Nicolai seldom had other smiles.

In the next second, Nicolai and the brown-haired knight swung their right hands almost simultaneously!

Hit each other!

What?

The moment Thales shrank his eyes, like a tacit combination that has gone through thousands of times of cooperation, the two palms clasped together fiercely in the air!

Snapped!

Nikolai held the opponent's palm tightly, with a rare smile on the corner of his mouth:

"Nice to meet you, Big Mouth."

"Hahahaha," the brown-haired knight laughed, making his mouth bigger:

"Each each other, thorn head!"

Thales looked at the actions of the two in surprise. It seemed that the previous guess was wrong.

their relationship...

Not average.

After all, not everyone is comfortable satirizing and molesting famous meteorites without scruples.

That brown-haired knight... who is it?

This guy was sent as a member of the Qiyuan City Mission, which means that Grand Duke Ronnie...

Nicolai and the brown-haired knight let go of each other and walked towards the palace gate side by side.

The people in Qiyuan City seemed relieved, and Qiqi followed behind.

The brown-haired knight raised his head, watching everything in the Palace of Heroes, with a lot of emotion in his expression, as if revisiting his old place.

"So, I heard that you single-handedly killed the leader six years ago?"

The Meteorite's face instantly turned cold.

"Forget it, plus some help from Byrne and you." Nicolai said softly.

"Me?" The brown-haired knight was thoughtful: "Sure enough, you used the secret I told you?"

"That's right." The Meteorite's face seemed to be even paler: "And I'm not proud of it, not to mention that he was seriously injured at the time."

silence.

The two kept walking, but the conversation stagnated slightly in a delicate atmosphere.

"I understand that feeling." A few seconds later, the knight said lightly.

"When the boss recruited us into the guard, none of you would have imagined that this day would come."

Nicolai said nothing.

The brown-haired knight raised his head, looked at the sky cliff on the top of the Palace of Heroes, focused his eyes on the statue of Nakaru, and said with emotion: "It's unimaginable, in a blink of an eye, we are almost fifty."

guard.

boss.

Thales moved slightly: he already had a guess about the identity of the knight.

"Everyone will grow old," Nicolai said softly, seemingly meaningful, "Whether it's a king or a commoner."

"Speaking of this, in the past year, my chest hurts whenever it rains," the brown-haired knight seemed to be a chatterbox. Is it wrong?"

Nikolai shook his head: "I guess you stayed in the snow pit for too long when you were young at the outpost."

But for some reason, Thales felt that there was no sense of disobedience when he saw Nicolai, who was usually taciturn and folded his arms, walking with the eloquent knight with exaggerated movements, casually making homely combinations.

Just like they are.

"A long time ago, a military doctor named Ramon told me," the brown-haired knight said while digging his ears rudely: "After the age of forty, our physical strength will decline significantly, and our bodies will gradually decline. Aging, some problems will show up, God, I was laughing at him at the time..."

Nicolai sneered: "But at the same time, our experience and skills will gradually increase and accumulate, our emotions will gradually become stable, we will get rid of impulsiveness and madness, and make up for the degradation of our bodies."

"So, compared with those young people in their twenties and thirties, we at the age of forty have a balance of experience and physical strength. It is the strongest and most terrifying stage for a veteran." The meteorite shook his head: "Don't listen to me. Liars will belittle themselves.”

"No, no, the military doctor said, once you're over fifty..." The brown-haired knight disagreed:

"No matter how much our skills and experience increase, we can't make up for the lack of physical strength and physique degradation. Every injury is a serious injury that is difficult to recover from. The problems left by you when you are young are more like the curse of the tarsus. From now on From getting up and opening your eyes to lying down and closing your eyes, all the time..."

Nicolai snorted slightly.

They are getting closer and closer to the palace gate.

"Although most of them are newcomers, I saw Gala and Lum." The knight glanced at the guards on both sides of the palace gate: "Where is Byrne? He is not among us except you and Isaiah." Besides, is the man with the best official luck Lord Michael, Michael is an official?"

He knew Michael, and he also knew the veterans of the White Blade Guard, Thales thought silently.

The identity of the knight was already revealed.

"Byrne left," Nicolai said indifferently, "Six years ago, he was injured too badly to be able to do anything anymore."

The brown-haired knight rolled his eyes slightly, with an interesting expression: "Is that so serious?"

"Six years ago, Dragon Clouds City lost more than just a king," the meteorite said casually: "Sometimes, inner wounds are more difficult to heal than physical wounds."

In front of the palace gate, the brown-haired knight stopped.

"I have a feeling, Stinghead." He looked at Nicolai with interest: "You are not the same as before, it seems that you are not so annoying."

"And you are still as annoying as ever." Nicolai retorted mercilessly.

The knight laughed loudly: "This is how we can live up to our reputation of 'white sword and double shame' back then!"

Thales almost frowned after listening to their conversation, it was unimaginable that someone could chat with Nicolai...

When Thales was distracted, before he knew it, the brown-haired knight and Nicolai had already walked in front of him.

"So, this is our dear Star Prince?" The brown-haired knight looked at the prince with interest.

Thales let out a breath: "Hi, I'm Thales Canxing."

The brown-haired knight lowered his head and looked at the prince carefully.

However, the moment the brown-haired knight's light-colored eyes stared at Thales, the prince suddenly shuddered!

A dangerous tremor spread from Thales's back to his shoulders.

The crime of prison river began to roll over and over again.

Thales looked back at the brown-haired knight with a serious face, raising the vigilance in his heart to the highest level: This is a feeling that he would not have when facing Nicolai.

what happened?

It's like... like being targeted by a scary hunter.

Could it be that this guy who is full of weird talks is more...

"You know, I told the thorn a long time ago that the imperial family is the favorite of the gods, so their blood is golden," the brown-haired knight looked at the nervous prince, laughed, and patted the Nicolai: "He didn't believe it, and said he would verify it for me if he had the opportunity..."

Thales frowned.

He recalled his first unpleasant meeting with the Meteorite.

Nicolai coughed.

"Prince Thales is an honored guest of the Grand Duchess, staying here temporarily at the invitation of the king," the meteorite interrupted the knight without hesitation: "Keep the necessary respect, Monty."

The brown-haired knight named Monty shook his head in dissatisfaction: "Okay, okay, Grand Duchess...My God..."

He took his gaze away from Thales, but this guy obviously wasn't finished yet.

"So, hey, boy," Monty bent down towards the prince, put on a passionate smirk, and arched his eyebrows three times: "The Grand Duchess, hehe..."

"Have you ever fucked her?"

At that moment, Thales froze in place.

What?

"Monty!"

Nicolai yelled angrily, unraveling Thales' embarrassment.

"Take care of your mouth," the meteorite pressed his palm on Monty's shoulder, his face gradually turned cold, and he no longer looked indifferent when he saw his old friend again: "Especially you represent Qiyuan City."

The brown-haired knight exhaled.

"Okay, I take that back." Monty shrugged his shoulders to get rid of the Meteor's hand, with a funny expression on his face, "You haven't changed."

Nicolai snorted again: "As the first officer, I believe you still have a job and my subordinates will take you to meet the Grand Duchess."

"Of course," Monty smiled and shook his head: "Your Excellency Ian's hospitality work will be left to you."

After saying that, Monty turned his head again, took a deep look at Thales, and just stepped out and walked towards the Palace of Heroes with his companions.

Thales was left behind and looked at his back speechlessly.

"That's..." The prince scratched his head, it was hard to imagine that such a strange person came to Qiyuan City.

"Ned Monty," Nicolai replied succinctly and shortly: "The former White Blade Guard is now the Lord of Qiyuan City."

really.

Former White Blade Guard.

But the prince already had some ideas about this mission.

If nothing else, just look at what Monty asked him just now, whether it was a joke or not...

Thales narrowed his eyes: There are no meaningless words in diplomacy.

That means……

"Do you have a good relationship with him?" The prince asked earnestly, "Duke Ronnie sent him here to take advantage of his friendship with you?"

"If that's the case," Nicolai shook his head, "I'm afraid they will be disappointed."

"Ned Monty," Thales chewed on the name, narrowing his eyes: "Is he very powerful?"

"You mean, except for his stinky mouth?" Nicolai snorted softly, "Well, some boring people put me, him, and the other three guys together and call them..."

"Five generals, right?"

Thales quickly realized: "It also includes the Flaming Knight of the Black Sand Collar."

"So he, Monty has also reached the extreme state," Thales asked curiously, "Who is stronger, he or you?"

Nicolai glanced at him, his eyes filled with disdain.

"Jijing, this title is always deified in the hearts of many people," Nicolai snorted softly, "but only when you go to the battlefield will you know the role that a Jijing can play in a crowded fight." will be greatly reduced."

"So, the extreme state is more suitable for another job with a small number of people." The meteorite turned his head and narrowed his eyes: "Assassin."

Thales thought of the assassin who was waiting for an opportunity and fell from the sky six years ago.

"I feel the same way," he replied dully. "What does that have to do with Monty?"

Nicolai looked at Thales, and said with deep meaning: "Although Monty is a soldier, his job is the closest to an assassin in the army."

Thales moved slightly: "You mean..."

"He was recruited into the White Blade Guard as an elite sniper crossbowman."

"Later, Kaslan was optimistic about his talent and trained him to be a scout." Nicolai nodded. "Soon, Monty became the most terrifying scout in Exeter."

"Our job is to face the enemy head-on and fight bloody battles. Monty is better at stealth and stealth."

"Twenty years ago in Baishan, on the eve of the Battle of the Deep Valley, he walked into the ancestral altar of the Elven King's Court alone to spy on the enemy, leaving countless corpses along the way until the crow cry he learned was detected, and he escaped from the siege and walked away. .”

"From then on, Monty got the nickname: 'Death Crow'."

The Meteor ended his words.

Thales was thoughtful.

Death's Crow.

It's not a nice name.

"You haven't said yet, they are both 'Five War Generals'," Thales continued to ask, "Who is stronger, he or you?"

"Him? Monty?"

Nicolai seemed to have heard the funniest joke. He looked in the direction Monty left and sneered, "Within ten steps, I can break his neck in five seconds."

Thales' heart trembled.

wrong.

"So," Thales, who heard the hidden meaning, asked empathetically with the principle of not making dead faces happy:

"Ten paces away?"

Sure enough, in the next second, Nikolai put on the most stinky expression he has ever had in front of the curious baby-like Thales.

The meteorite folded his arms, turned his head to one side, and snorted dissatisfiedly: "Hmph."

Thales widened his eyes and scratched his hair.

Looking at Nicolai who turned and left, he probably knew the answer.

So he also sighed helplessly, and walked towards the Hall of Heroes.

At that time, Thales thought that Ned Monty was probably the weirdest and most special guy he had ever seen today.

Until an hour later, he and Selma met their real guest in the Hall of Heroes, the heir of the Knight Code family, the official messenger from Qiyuan City...

Ian Ronnie.